Kinda related question but has anyone actually successfully carried forward an NOL on their taxes using TurboTax? I tried last year and the software kept getting confused about my carryforward amount.

Just wanted to add something that might help others in similar situations - make sure you understand the difference between business losses and capital losses when calculating your NOL. As a freelance graphic designer myself, I made the mistake of mixing up equipment depreciation with direct capital losses in my first year. Your expensive computer and design software should typically be depreciated over several years (or you might qualify for Section 179 expensing), but this is different from capital asset sales that are subject to the $3,000 annual limit you mentioned. For your NOL calculation, focus on your Schedule C business income/losses rather than capital gains/losses. The business losses from your design work, office rent, and legitimate business expenses can contribute to an NOL, but make sure you're categorizing everything correctly. I learned this the hard way when I had to file an amended return! Also keep excellent records of everything - client contracts, invoices, business bank statements, receipts. The IRS tends to scrutinize creative businesses more closely, so documentation is key if you ever get audited.

One important distinction to make: an offset and a refund are two different things. The offset happens after your tax return is processed and a refund is determined. If you owe federal debts, the Treasury takes your refund to pay those debts before sending you any remainder. Refund advances are typically based on your expected refund amount, not what you'll actually receive after offsets. Most legitimate tax preparation services will run a debt indicator check before approving an advance, which will show if you're likely to have an offset. If they see an indicator, they'll typically deny the advance.

I went through this exact situation two years ago with a student loan offset. Here's what I learned the hard way: most major tax prep companies (H&R Block, TurboTax, etc.) will run a debt check before approving any refund advance, and if they see you're flagged for an offset, they'll automatically deny you. However, some smaller storefront tax preparers might not run these checks as thoroughly. BUT - and this is a big but - if they give you an advance and your refund gets offset, you're still 100% responsible for paying back that advance plus any fees. I ended up owing $347 more than the advance amount after fees and interest when my $2,800 refund got completely offset. My advice? Call the Treasury Offset Program first at 1-800-304-3107 to confirm your offset amount, then explore alternatives like a personal loan from your bank or credit union - the interest rates are usually way better than refund advance fees anyway.

Couldn't the airline vouchers be considered a rebate or price adjustment rather than income? If I buy something at a store and get a $10 rebate, that's not income. Maybe the vouchers are just a "rebate" for the inconvenience, not actual income? My brother-in-law says he never reports his vouchers.

I work for a tax preparation firm and can confirm that airline bump compensation is definitely taxable income, regardless of whether it's cash or vouchers. The IRS treats this as compensation for services (giving up your seat), not as a rebate or refund. A few key points to clarify some confusion in this thread: 1. The $600 threshold for 1099 forms only applies to the airline's reporting requirement, not your obligation to report income. All income is taxable regardless of receiving a form. 2. While vouchers with restrictions might theoretically be worth less than face value, be very careful about discounting them without solid documentation. The IRS generally expects you to report the stated value unless you can prove the limitations significantly reduce the actual worth. 3. The income is taxable in the year you received the vouchers, not when you use them. Keep all documentation from the airline showing the compensation amount and date received. Report it as "Other Income" on Schedule 1, Line 8i of your Form 1040. Even after taxes, you're still coming out ahead financially from taking the bump!

There's a lot of confusion around this topic. I'm a partnership nerd and want to clarify: negative capital accounts ARE allowed and are reported all the time on 1065 returns. What the IRS doesn't like is unexplained fluctuations. Schedule M-2 line 9 absolutely can be negative - nothing in tax law prohibits it. The issue comes when the negativity can't be explained by cumulative losses or distributions in excess of basis. Remember that tax basis capital and GAAP capital can be different, which causes additional confusion.

I've been dealing with partnership returns for several years and want to add some clarity here. The negative balance on Schedule M-2 line 9 should absolutely be reported as-is - don't try to manipulate it with artificial income entries. What's crucial is understanding WHY you have the negative balance. In your case, it sounds like legitimate business losses and equipment investments that didn't work out. This is actually a common scenario for growing partnerships. A few practical tips: 1. Make sure you've properly tracked all partner contributions throughout the year (cash, property, services) 2. Verify that distributions to partners are correctly recorded 3. Double-check that any partner loans to the partnership are properly classified as debt, not capital 4. Consider attaching a brief statement explaining the business circumstances that led to the negative capital The IRS sees negative capital accounts regularly - they're not automatically red flags. What they don't like is when the numbers don't make sense or when there are unexplained changes from year to year. As long as your books accurately reflect the partnership's actual financial position, you should be fine. Don't stress too much about this - focus on accuracy over trying to make the numbers "look better.

Just a heads-up to everyone waiting on ERTC checks - be prepared for potential delays beyond the 4-6 weeks mentioned in the letter. Our small business got our processing letters in January, but the actual checks didn't arrive until mid-March (about 9 weeks later). The IRS is still working through a huge backlog of these claims.

I can share some insight from our experience with ERTC refunds last year. We filed 941-X forms for 4 quarters and were in a similar situation wondering about the refundable vs non-refundable portions. The key thing to understand is that once you've already paid your employment taxes for those quarters (which you have since these are from 2020-2021), the IRS treats the entire ERTC amount as an overpayment refund. So yes, you should receive both the refundable and non-refundable portions in your checks. However, I'd echo what others have said about the timeline - don't count on exactly 4-6 weeks. Ours took about 8 weeks to arrive, and they came as separate checks for different quarters rather than one lump sum. Also make sure your mailing address is current with the IRS because these are paper checks, not direct deposits. One tip: when the checks do arrive, verify the amounts against what you claimed on your 941-X forms. We had one quarter where they made a calculation error that we had to call about (which was its own adventure trying to reach them). But overall, the process worked as expected once we understood that both portions would be refunded.